Up to about fifty years ago, self-respecting synagogues would affix a big outdoor sign by the end of summer that proudly proclaimed the name (often with the picture) of the prominent cantor who would lead their High Holidays services.

It was a sign of the times when cantors reigned supreme on the synagogue scene. Synagogues vied with each other in the Yiddish press advertising the virtue and virtuoso of their chosen Chazan, selected from numerous candidates who had auditioned for the coveted position. The Cantor and his choir became the synagogue’s main attraction, as his rich and powerful voice dominated the services.

The Golden era of Chazanim in the first half of the last century featured famous celebrities like David Koussevitzky (1912 – 1985), Leibele Glantz (1898 – 1964), Mordechai Hershman (1888 – 1940), Zevulun (Zavel) Kwartin (1874 – 1952), Moishe Oysher 1907 – 1958) and Yossele Rosenblatt (1882 – 1933).

Cantors were highly prized and in big demand in their heyday. Warner Brothers offered Cantor Yossele Rosenblatt a phenomenal $100,000 to co-star with Al Jolson in “The Jazz Singer,” but they could not persuade him to sing the Kol Nidrei. Rosenblatt felt that the auspicious Yom Kippur prayer was much too sacred to be used for mere entertainment.

Rosenblatt was engaged by Brooklyn’s Anshei Sefard Congregation in 1928 for $12,000 a year. His was the highest cantorial salary paid at that time.

People back then appreciated the cantorial creativity, and large crowds would turn out to hear a good cantor. Historian Rabbi Berel Wein remembers the time when a notorious Jewish gangster died. His family was concerned that few people would attend the funeral, so they engaged a famous cantor to sing the customary funeral prayers, and placed posters throughout the Jewish neighborhood announcing it. Whether this aided the deceased’s soul is highly debatable, but the funeral parlor was packed with listeners.

The cantorial renditions helped interpret the flow and meaning of the prayer, and added prestige, pomp and circumstance to the services. Instead of just turning the prayer book pages, the audience was moved and inspired, as well as entertained and entranced, by the cantor’s voice.

The classic liturgical music enriched the prayers, but its excess could also be a distraction. A successful Cantor’s maestro presentation could transform a synagogue’s spiritual ambiance into a grand theatrical performance.

Indeed, some great opera and movie stars began their professional careers as chazanim. Al Jolson was himself the chazan he portrayed in his role in “The Jazz Singer.” Jan Peerce (1904 – 1984) was a chazan before becoming a leading tenor at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, as was his brother-in-law, Richard Tucker (1913 – 1975), who starred at the Metropolitan Opera. Both Peerce and Tucker continued to serve as High Holy Days cantors while at the Met.

Born as Jacob Pincus Perlemuth, Jan Peerce originally played the violin for a dance band, and used to sing along just to 'pad it out.’ His exceptional voice was accidentally discovered, and he soon began performing classical songs and operatic arias.

The famous conductor Arturo Toscanini engaged him to sing the lead in his opera and choral recordings. Jan Peerce made his debut in Philadelphia in 1938, and then with the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York, in 1941. In 1971 he debuted on Broadway as Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof.”

But even while basking in the stardom limelight, Jan Peerce maintained his Jewish identity and active observance. He was careful to put on Tefillin every day, and developed a close relationship with the Lubavitcher Rebbe and Chabad Chasidim.

Although his profession placed him in non-Jewish social circles and venues, Peerce would not eat any non-kosher food. He and his wife Alice went to great lengths to pack and ship kosher provisions for an extended engagement in Hawaii in the ‘50s.

It is related that Governor Nelson Rockefeller once offered to host a grand regal banquet in Peerce’s honor, culminating with a song by Jan Peerce. Peerce politely excused himself from participating in the non-kosher dinner by saying that to he never ate before a performance in order to save his voice.

“Fine,” said Rockefeller, “so we'll all eat afterwards.”

To extricate himself, Peerce claimed that he only drank tea after performances, and waited a long time before having a proper meal!

Cantorial classics were geared mostly for special occasions such as the High Holidays, rather than for year-round use by the masses. Lacking the required range of voice levels and the vocal chord training and skills, the average layman could only listen, but was personally unable to sing those complicated compositions. The audience just hummed quietly along, later chiming in at the end with the final “A-a-men!”

Interest in Cantorial music has declined nowadays, but while it doesn’t enjoy its former glory and grandeur, it is making a small comeback at concerts, ship cruises as well as personal performances.

Times and tastes have changed. Instead of focusing only on specialized solo performances, today’s Cantorial repertoire includes more popular interactive tunes that can be enjoyed by one and all beyond the synagogue. Even during the service, cantors try to involve their listeners to sing along and join the melody.

Although Cantors are no longer raised on high a pedestal as they used to, the current trend to use prayer verses as lyrics for everyday song and melodies may be a blessing.